Machine for sewing buttons to fabrics.



W. E. TRULL. MACHINE FOR SEWING BUTTONS T0 PABRI APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5, 1909.

Patented Mar. 15, 1910.

I INVENTOR wzzlzamli'. Tw'wll- WITNESSES @Of A ma w 71% 9 type above specified,

WILLIAM E. TRULL, BF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-NOR TO THE SMITH & EGGE MANUFACTURING 60., OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CQRE'OBATION E CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR SEWING BUTTONS T0 FABRICS.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that l, lVILLIAM E. TRULL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Sewing Buttons to Fabric; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to machines for sew ing buttons to fabric, but more particularly relates to an attachment for button sewing intended to be used in connection with a buttonhole sewing machine. uch as is shown and described in Letters Patent No. 322.811, issued July 21, 1893. to I Egge and C. J. A. Sjober and Letters Patent No. 376,297, issued to F. Egge, January 10, 1888.

In buttonhole sewing machines of the a shifting feed bar, termed oscillator 1 in the first mentioned patent, is employed. This feed bar or oscillator can be easily and readily removed. by anyone, by simply disconnecting the same from its operating mechanism. To this feed bar or oscillator the usual cloth clamp is secured.

The object of my invention is to provide a shifting button bar, carrying suitable button engagii'ig means. and so construct said bar that it may be bodily substituted for the above mentioned oscillator or shifting feed bar of the buttonhole sewing machine character specified in the patents mentioned, thereby converting said buttonhole sewing machine into a button sewing device.

ll ith this in view my invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out. in the claims which conclude this description.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a plan view showing my improvement ap plied to the buttonhole sewing attachment- Fig. 2 a detail broken plan showing the position of the parts after the button has been partially sewed to a fabric-Fig. 3 a detail broken elevation of the button clumping and centering device-l ig l a front elevation of the same Fig. 5 a sectional eleva tion thereof, and Fig. 6 a detail bottom view of the shifting lever.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 5. 1909.

Patented Mar. 315, 1911 Serial No. 508,422.

Similar characters of reference denote like parts in the several figures of the drawing.

My improved attachment is adapted to be bodily substituted for the oscillator or feed bar above referred to whereby said buttonhole attachments of the patented construction may be readily and easily converted into a button sewing attachment. lhave not deemed it necessary to illustrate and describe in detail herein all the mechanism disclosed in said patented devices. Only as much of such patentedconstruction is shown .as is necessary for a full understanding of my invention. For instance,lindicates the usual L-shaped primary oscillating lever pivoted at 9 to the bed plate 3 provided with the elongated slot 1- at its forward end. Said primary oscillating lever receives its necessary movement through the usual wiper and ratchet 2-3 and other connections such as disclosed in the patents noted. The oscillator or feed bar I of the patent above referred to is connected with the L-shaped lever and receives its usual oscillating or shifting movements therefrom. The mech anism in said patents for giving the usual step by step lengthwise feeding movement to said oscillator or feed bar has not been shown or described in detail herein since it is not necessary for an understanding of this invention. Said step by step mechanism performs no function whatever when my attachment is substituted for the usual oscillator or feed bar, since my attachment is not operatively connected therewith.

I will now proceed to describe my inproved attachmi-rntand explain its use and application to the button hole sewing mech anism of the patented constructions.

Referring to the drawings. U is the shifting button bar, similar to the. oscillator or feed bar of said pa tents. except that it is not provided with the oppositely disposed racks shown in such patents. These racks, as the patents disclose, are merely employed for use with the step by step lengthwise feeding mechanism, and since. as above stated, my shitting button bar or attachment is not operatively connected with such step by step mechanism, such racks are unnecessary. This shifting button bar (3 is connected to the usual primary oscillating L-shaped lever 1, in the manner in which the oscillator or feed bu r is connected in said patents, that is, by a binding nut T secured within the elonshifting bar 6, so that it will be clearly unward and backward in the direction of its eaa,

gated slot 4 of said lever and projecting up through a slot 5 in said bar and in contact with the side walls of the latter. Motion is communicated from the primary oscillating lever l to button bar 6 through the medium of the binding nut i, the latter being adjusted throughout the slot i so as to increase or decrease, as the case may be, the lateral throw of the forward end of the shifting button bar (5. r

8 is the usual cloth clamp carri d by the bar 6, and 9 is the lever for operating the same.

To the forward extremity of the bar b is secured a bracket 10 which. is provided with upstanding ears 11 between which is pivoted a block 12 from which latter extend twin wire lingers 13. Beneath this blocl. a tint spring 14 which is secured to the base of the bracket, and the block provided. with angularly disposed es 15 so that when the 1 block is turned on its aiiis to throw the l 1-- gers l3 downwardly or upwardly, the spa let will be depr ssed until the iuiguiar point I at which the faces 1:? meet shall have passed by the spring, whereupon the latter will by its resiliency bring the block in position with. one of its :taces resting upon the spring; itself, and the twin lingers will. be elevated or depressed as the case may be. However this little detail just described. with respect to the block and spring is quite in'nmitcrial since the provision of means for causing a t clamp or other similar device to snap into position after certain portions have becn carried beyond a dead center is old,

Pivoted to a block 16 at the rear of the bed plate 3 is a hand lever 17 which is provided I with oppositely disposed and laterally OK.- i tending lugs 18 through which latter are driven screws 19 which act as adjustable stops that abut against the side of the block 16 to limit the swinging n'iovements oi the lever 17. The forward extremity oi. this lever is fort-zed as shown at 20 and embraces 1 a stud 21 that rises from the rearot' the derstood that by swinging the hand lever to l and fro the shifting bar Will be thrown for- 5 length, the purpose of Wl'llCll will be presently explained.

Pre-s'upposing a buttonhole sewing machine, such as is shown and described in the patents, aforesaid, to be in position upon a sewing machine, and that the operator desires to sew a button of the flat type and with four eyes to a fabric, it is merely necessary to remove the shifting iced bar of the bu't-' tonhole sewing'machine and to substitute therefor the shifting bar shown and de scribed herein and which has no teed racks, as above explained, and which is provided with the stud 21 at its rear end that is embraced by the fork 20. The button, which is'denoted by the numeral 22, is placed upon the fabric, which is held. by the cloth clamp 8, and the twin fingers 13 are swung downwardly to engage with the rearmost pair of eyes in the button as shown at Fig. 1. When the attachment is operated the bar 6 will shitt to and fro laterally and will bring the forward pair of eyes in the button successively beneath the sewing machine needle whereby the button will be sewed to the fabric through these lforward eyes. After a sutlicicnt nun'ibcr of stitches have been taken the lingers -13 are thrown upwardly and the hand lever 17 operated to move the bar 6 forward whereby the rearinost pair of eyes will be successively brought in line with the needle during the subsequent operation of the attachment, as shown at Fig. 2.

'ilhe twin lingers serve to hold the button firmly to the fabric and to center the same until such button has been sewed to the tab 1 ric through its forward eyes, and thereafter these fingers are thrown back since the stitches already talicn will hold the button in proper position during the subsequent sewing tlnough the rearmost eyes.

The screws 19 are adjustable so as to regulate the lengthwise throw of the bar 6 according to the distance between the pairs of eyes in the button, and when the button is primarily sewed to the fabric the lever 17 is operated to force the bar 0 rearward so as to leave the front pair of eyes in proper position with respect to the needle, and, after the primary sewing oi the button to the fabric the lever 17 is operated to force the bar (3 forward to bring the unsewed eyes of the button beneath the needle during the continued lateral shitting n'iovements of said bar.

It will thus be readily understood that l have provided a shifting bar precisely like the shifting bar of the buttonhole sewing attachment except that my present bar has no lengthwise step by step feeding means and is equipped with a button holding and centering device, and therefore it will be clearv that button or buttonhole sewing may be accomplished by merely substituting the proper shifting bar.

. Having thus described my invention what I clalm as new and desire to secure by Lctters Patent 1s 1. In. a button sewing attachment for buttonhole sewing machines of the character stated, the combination with the primary oscillatinglever, oi a button bar operatively con ected to said lever, said bar provided with a cloth clamp and a button holding and centering device carried by the forward end oi such bar, and means for manually shitting said bar lengthwise between predetermined limits.

2. in a button sewing attachment adapted to be substituted for the usual feed bar or oscillator of a buttonhole sewing machine of the character described, the combination H with the primaryoscillating lever, of a button bar connected to one end of such lever whereby lateral shifting movements will be communicated from said lever tosaid bar, button holding and centering means carried by the forward extremity of said button bar, a stud carried by the rear of said button bar, and a lever having movements between prescribed limits and loosel engaging said stud whereby the vbutton ar may be manually moved; forward and backward throughout a predeiermined space.

J1.v In a button sewing attachment for the purpose described, thecombination with an L-shaped oscillating lever, of a button bar adj ustably connected to the free end of said lever' and carrying at its forward end a cloth clamp, afspring controlled block ivotally supported at the front end of sai button bar and carrying twin fingers, a stud rising from the rear face of said bar, a lever embracing said stud, and means for limiting the swinging movements of said lever.

l 4. In a. button sewingattachment for the purpose, specified, the combination with, a

button bar provided near one end with an elongated slot whereby it may be connected .to suitableoscillatin means, of means carried by the front or said bar whereby the eyes of a flat button ma be centered, and means for manually moving the button bar forward and backward when desired.

5. In a button sewin attachment for a buttonhole sewing machine of the class described, the combinationwith a button bar character described, the combination with a button bar, of suitable oscillating means adjustably connected to said bar for operating the same, manually operated meansfor shifting said bar lengthwise within predetermined limits, and suitable button holding and centering devices carried by said bar.

7. In .a. button sewing attachment, the combination with a button bar provided with an elongated slot, suitable operating means for oscillating the bar through said slot, a cloth clamp and button holding and centering means carried by said bar, and means under the control of the operator for shifting the bar lengthwise when desired. 8. The combination with a button shifting bar for a button sewing machine, of means under the control of the operator for shifting the bar forward and backward when desired, suitable oscillating means for operating the bar adj ustably connected thereto whereby the lateral throw of the forward in presence 0 two witnesses.

I WILLIAM E. TRULL.

Witnesses:

HENRY A. TENNY, O. A. Coun'nss. 

